The Sunday Telegraph
Through a series of outstanding scoops and investigations, and stellar big-event coverage, the Telegraph surpassed its ambitious target of one million subscriptions in 2023, and demonstrated an unwavering commitment to holding power to account and bringing new information to light. The Sunday Telegraph showcased some of the best of this journalism with political exclusive after exclusive, a new Sunday features section and the most authoritative Sport coverage. Stories were published with real impact thanks to innovative design and brilliant photography, video, podcasts and visual storytelling. This has all helped turn the Telegraph into the fastest-growing digital subscriptions news publisher in the UK.
The Sunday Telegraph punched spectacularly above its weight in its political coverage. Thanks to our extraordinary access to the corridors of power, our brilliant political editor and unrivalled roster of writers and commentators, we broke scoop after scoop on Rishi Sunak's premiership and provided our readers with the best analysis and commentary on the Tory meltdown.
One highlight was publishing former PM Liz Truss's 4,000-word essay decrying how, in her words, the Left-wing establishment willfully brought her down: it was her first intervention since being defenestrated. Our front page story dominated the news agenda for several days. In one fell swoop, the Sunday Telegraph's splash and eight pages of special reports on the Lockdown Files smashed the narrative of the Covid years and in particular recast the role of the former health secretary. Matt Hancock, we revealed, wanted to “deploy” a new Covid variant to “frighten the pants off" the public and ensure that they complied with lockdown. It was a story that permanently changed the way our readers assessed the Covid period, and was one of the outstanding scoops to emerge from the Lockdown Files – a forensic analysis of more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages sent between ministers, officials and others at the height of the pandemic. Our publishing was second to none and symbolised how our print products can brilliantly reflect our rebirth for the digital age.
The messages also lifted the lid on discussions ahead of lockdowns, including PM Boris Johnson’s swerves from lockdown sceptic to zealot, uncovering his secret nickname of 'Shopping Trolley'.
We also revealed:
- Bitter rivalries at the heart of government including between Mr Hancock and Michael Gove
- What Mr Sunak really thought of Dominic Cummings
- How Mr Hancock worked against health chiefs and experts
- The scrambling when Mr Hancock’s affair with Gina Coladangelo was published In the most significant year for Royal news in a generation, the Sunday Telegraph stood out from the rest of the Sunday pack.
We played to our strengths, displaying pictures in full broadsheet format and turning our paper into a visual cornucopia, to the delight of our print and digital readers. We unleashed the best Royal writers in the business, chronicled an unprecedented period in recent British history and immediately reflected the pulse of the nation. Our Coronation edition stood out. We dared to think outside of the box, choosing a p1 image of a more relaxed King and Queen after they had addressed the nation from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
The rest of our souvenir edition - almost all of our main section and a 30-page supplement - was a feast of brilliant pictures, exceptional reporting and peerless commentary to mark a day like no other, leading to exceptional paper sales and an astonishing number of digital subscriptions all over the world.
The Sunday features section was launched towards the end of 2022 and has given readers a highly curated mix of news review, health, travel, arts, advice, opinion and fashion - every week throwing up talking points, fine writing and reviews.
Telegraph Women's Sport shone bright during the Lionesses' run to the final of the Women's World Cup, showcasing the Telegraph’s ongoing, incomparable commitment. With scoops like Gareth Southgate staying on as England manager and outstanding all-round coverage, the UK's only separate daily section continued its long streak of being voted Sports Newspaper of the Year.
It is quality, exclusive, agenda-setting journalism which has been at the forefront of the Telegraph's transformative subscription growth, and The Sunday Telegraph has played a full part in this success.